THE REEF

O.K., let’s cut to the chase, The Reef is a movie about people trying to survive floating in the ocean while being chased by a shark. There isn’t much more to the plot than that. The main point of the beginning of the movie is simply a case of “how do we get the people into the water,” and to be sure, the way that is accomplished is never made clear. All we ever know is that at one point all is fine, and then all of a sudden the boat is upside down in the water. Mission accomplished, it’s feeding frenzy time!

If you fine folk reading are interested, however, it is like this: five people head out on a boat. One of whom is the professional sailor, Luke, who delivers boats for a living, his sister, her boyfriend, and our pro-sailors ex-girlfriend. Along on the ride is another expert sailor. There we have our cast, now to dump them into the water.

Once our boat is upside down our crew needs to make a decision, do they wait for rescue, or do they swim for an island that is believed to be ten miles away. Our 5^th wheel boating expert chooses to stay behind, while the rest (brother/ex-boyfriend, sister, boyfriend, ex-girlfriend) decide to be the ones to make a swim for it. Once we are all in the water, the fun and gut-wrenching tension begins.

The Reef is a ridiculously tense film once we hit the water. Part of this tension is derived from the amount of time Luke spends looking under the water trying to find the shark. We know the dang thing is out there, after all the DVD case shows us the fin, so we sit there squinting at the TV screen trying to make out the image of the shark every time he looks underwater. When it finally does show, our reaction is similar to the folk floating in the water. But when that dang thing finally lets its presence be known, and we finally come to terms with the fact that this thing is NOT going to leave them alone, let me tell you, nothing will prepare you for that scene. I don’t think I have ever seen a scene in a movie that has ever blown my mind like that scene. I have gone back to watch it time and time again, and every time it gets a jaw on the floor. I’m watching Jaws as I type this, and the scene where the shark shows up while Brody is throwing chum into the ocean is pretty much the same reaction. The makers of The Reef created a perfect “HOLY SHIT” moment for their movie, and it comes at the perfect time.

There is a definite sense of hopelessness in The Reef, and in a way it hurt the film a little bit for me. I so wanted a happier ending than we got, but knowing the people were in the ocean, I also had a feeling it would go the path it did go. I will say that what happens to who was a surprise. I did not expect it to go the way it did, but the end result (number wise) is what I expected. This, however, should not stop a person from seeing this film.

The Reef is an edge of your seat thriller that pulls no punches. It lacks the character build that some films might have (Jaws if I want to be unfair), but the tension is unreal. This is one of those movie that will put an ulcer in your gut in its runtime.